spade 1  (sp ād)
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n.1. A sturdy digging tool having a thick handle and a heavy, flat blade that can be pressed into the ground with the foot. 2. Any of various similar digging or cutting tools. tr.v. spad·ed, spad·ing, spades To dig or cut with a spade. Idiom: call a spade a spade To speak plainly and forthrightly.
[Middle English, from Old English spadu.]
spader n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
spade 2  (sp ād)
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n.1. Games a. A black, leaf-shaped figure on certain playing cards. b. A playing card with this figure. c. also spades (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The suit of cards represented by this figure. 2. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a black person. Idiom: in spades To a considerable degree: They had financial trouble in spades.
[Italian spade, pl. of spada, card suit, from Latin spatha, sword, broad-bladed stirrer, from Greek spathē, broad blade.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
Indo-European Roots
Semitic Roots
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.
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